


Conflict of Interest

by andrastesgrace (RoxieFlash), gallifreyslostson



Series: Family Assembled [4]
Category: Agent Carter - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, offensive dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 20:56:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4935028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoxieFlash/pseuds/andrastesgrace, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gallifreyslostson/pseuds/gallifreyslostson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Jarvis comes back to visit, finding a very different Budapest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conflict of Interest

Captain Edwin Jarvis stood at the street corner, pacing nervously. Despite the dozens of letters they'd sent each other over past year, he was still unaccountably anxious about seeing Anna again. He should have sent her a telegram, at least tell her he was coming, even if she wouldn't have a chance to reply. What if she didn't want to see him? What if, despite her claims, someone else had swooped in and stolen her heart while he was away?

Perhaps he should just walk away, never let it be known that he'd visited Budapest again, or how quickly he'd snatched at the assignment when it became available.

Even as he thought it, he knew it would be impossible. He'd already been in the country three days, and had been busy with meetings the entire time, but Anna had never strayed far from his thoughts. He knew he wouldn't survive another two and a half weeks without coming to see her, and if she didn't refuse him, the more time he wasted now would simply be more he'd regret later.

It was with that thought in mind, as well as the odd stares his behavior was generating, that he turned resolutely and marched the distance to the Kovách residence. He hesitated only another second before giving the door a smart rap with his knuckles.

"Captain Jarvis!" Anna's mother greeted him with a surprised smile. "Please, come in! Anna didn't tell us you'd be visiting."

"I expect that's because I didn't have a chance to tell her," Edwin said as he stepped inside. "I apologize for any intrusion."

"Oh, silly child, it's no intrusion! Anna, darling, come in here!"

"How is she, Mrs Kovách? Really?"

The older woman's smile faltered, and Edwin frowned in concern. "She is...sad. And worried. But she'll be happier for seeing you."

"Mama, what--" Edwin turned at the sound of her voice, then froze completely at the sight of her. He'd had moments where he wondered if she really was as gorgeous as he's built up in his head, or if it was just his own romantic ideas that had built her up so in his mind. Before he left, he swore he'd get a photo of her, so that he'd have proof of her stunning features--the fair skin and sparkling blue eyes that were offset by the dark, glossy curls--and never again have to wonder. At the moment, her eyes were wide as she stared at him. "Edwin?"

He couldn't answer around the cotton in his throat. Instead, he started toward her, only to be met halfway as she threw herself at him. He wound his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"I missed you so much," she told him, her voice muffled by the cloth of his coat.

"Every day," he said, pressing a kiss to her hair. "Every single day I've thought of you, darling."

She pulled back a fraction, tugging his head down for a kiss that he couldn't have refused if he tried. Even if he could bring himself to care as he coaxed her mouth open, her parents had let their inexplicable acceptance of him known the last time he'd been there.

As if to illustrate the point, Edwin suddenly heard her father huff irritably behind her.

"At least let the boy take his hat off!" Edwin chuckled against her lips when he felt one of her hands reach up and pluck his hat off before winding her arm around his neck again, while her father only sighed. "Close enough."

oOoOo

"How bad is it, darling?"

"Oh, it's not--"

"Anna."

They were in the sitting room, Anna's mother having ordered him to stay for tea, something he wouldn't have refused for anything. There was also promise of goulash in the near future, because Mrs Kovách was always convinced that Edwin was one missed meal from death by starvation, but it was, as always, his own darling Anna who provided the only enticement he needed to stay.

Now, though, she glanced nervously back at the door her parents had recently exited through, worrying her lip. Edwin already had one arm around her, but he still moved his free hand to clasp hers on her lap as he waited.

"They didn't even give Papa notice," she said quietly. "One day, he went to the hospital, and guards there told him he no longer worked there. They watched him while he gathered his things, then escorted him out like a criminal."

Edwin moved his thumb over the back of her hand comfortingly, even as outage began burning in his gut. "And you?"

"Mr Kris couldn't even look at me," she told him, her voice shaking as she looked up at him with tears shining in her eyes. "He said he was sorry, that it was out of his hands. He tried to keep me, but someone's father complained loudly that a Jewish girl shouldn't be holding a job his daughter deserved. Even if I didn't 'look Jewish', whatever that means."

Edwin's eyes slid closed in anger and borrowed pain as he kissed her hair. "I'm so sorry, darling."

"Why should you apologize for the deeds of other men?" she asked, and he tightened his hold on her as she buried her face in his neck. They sat like that quietly for a moment before she asked, "How long will you be here?"

"Two and a half weeks," he replied, suddenly hating the short timeline. "Perhaps three if I can stretch it."

Her position made him feel her nod against his shoulder rather than see it. "Do you have much work?"

"A fair bit," he admitted. "Nothing today, and there will likely be other days I'm free completely, but it's all a bit slapdash and inconsistent. But whatever is happening, I promise, by nine pm, I'll be all yours."

"Every day?" she probed, lifting her head.

"Every day."

"I can work with that," she said, smiling again at long last.

"Can you?" he asked, lips twitching. "Sure?"

"Very sure," she told him before leaning in to kiss him.

oOoOo

True to his word, whatever meetings were happening on a given day, he made certain he was free and at Anna's doorstep by nine in the evening. Mostly, the late evenings kept them from doing much apart from talking in her living room for an hour or two, but it was better than nothing. Far better, in fact--knowing he'd get to see Anna that evening kept him focused during a series of meetings that were either mind-numbing or incredibly frustrating, with very little in between.

Still, he was more than a little happy when he had another free day five days after he first saw her. He went to her house as early as manners would allow, and her face flushed gorgeously in excitement when he told her he was hers for the day. She asked what they would do, but he told her he didn't care, so long as he was with her.

It wasn’t until late afternoon, after a morning spent visiting with her parents, a quiet lunch, and a matinee picture show, that Edwin started being aware of the uncomfortable, itchy feeling that came with being watched. It was undoubtedly because his entire focus had been on Anna, on how good it was to spend time with her again, that he hadn’t noticed at first, but once he became aware of it, he couldn’t shake it. It didn’t take long to find the source, because it was so ubiquitous; they were walking down one of the main boulevards, arm in arm, and he realized rather quickly how many cold stares they were receiving.

No, not they.  _Her_.

He glanced down at Anna, but apart from a slight extra stiffness to her smile, she didn’t appear to have noticed.  He might have been able to go along with the pretense, if it weren’t for the man spitting an insult at her as he passed.

“I beg your pardon?” Edwin demanded, stopping and spinning to face the man.  “What did you say?”

"Nothing that isn't already known," the stranger said with a sneer. "But if that's the flavor you like, English, have fun with it. Maybe you'll get a military discount."

"Take it back," Edwin said, his voice low and dangerous as he squared off opposite the man.

"Edwin," Anna said with a pleading tone as she tugged on his arm. "Leave it, please."

"Absolutely not," he said, shaking with anger. "She's done nothing to you, and certainly nothing to warrant that type of treatment."

"If her and her kind don't like it, they should go," someone said from the crowd growing around them, casting an ugly look at Anna.

"Where?" Edwin demanded. "Perhaps you think it would be better if they went to Poland, or Austria, where the spread of Hitler's lunacy is even less thinly veiled. If they left the homes they've had as long as any of you for no reason other than a disturbingly popular negative sentiment, one that I'd like to remind you was practically nonexistent less than two years ago."

"Edwin," Anna said again, moving closer against the press of curious bystanders. He glanced down at her, and the genuine fear on her face cut through him.

"Come on," he said quietly, already making a plan to get her off the street as soon as possible.

"That's right, English," the first man said as Edwin turned away. "Listen to your Jewish whore."

No thought went into his next action. It was a completely automatic response to spin around and drive a fist into the man's face, successfully erasing the disgusting, superior expression. The man stumbled back, clutching at his nose and spewing what Edwin could only assume were a string of curses in Hungarian. He didn't bother to wait for a translation, instead grabbing Anna's hand and dragging her away from the scene as he shook the sting from his other hand.

"Edwin--"

"Not yet," he cut in, glancing around as he hurried down the street. As luck would have it, they weren't far from his hotel. He remained silent during the short walk to the building, then ushered her inside and up to his room, ignoring the greeting by the man at the front desk completely.

"Of all the stupid, neolithic people I've dealt with over the past month, _that_ man was by far the worst," he burst out as soon he'd slammed the door behind them, ripping off his coat.

“Mr Farkas has always been less than wonderful,” Anna said quietly.

“You _know_ him?” he asked, pausing as he scrabbled with the belt on his jacket to stare at her incredulously.

“He’s a neighbor,” she told him with a sad smile and helpless shrug.  “He’s always been rather small and hateful.  The Jewish laws just give him someone to be small and hateful _at_.”

Edwin shook his head in amazement at a world gone mad as he tore at his belt and jacket before reaching up to loosen his tie.  “I’m surprised he doesn’t have his nose broken weekly.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and he wheeled around to grasp her upper arms.

“Don’t,” he ordered, looking down into her face.  “Don’t ever, _ever_ apologize for them, and never to _me_. You’ve done nothing to be ashamed of, nothing to warrant such an apology. Don’t let _them_ make you think you have.  Do you hear me, Anna?”

“Yes, Edwin,” she said, her voice small, and the tears shining in her eyes were nearly his undoing.

“Oh...Anna,” he murmured, his anger draining from him as he kissed her, hard.  His hands released her, skimming up her arms to push her coat off her shoulders before sliding over her waist to pull her closer to him.  He only became more desperate when she melted against him, focusing on her warmth to rid himself of the rage the man in the street had induced.

He quickly realized that the girl in his arms was just as capable of spurring him to action without thought, though of a completely different variety.  Before he could stop to consider the consequences, he was pushing her toward the bed and letting himself be pulled down onto it by his tie. He hovered over her, his weight balanced on a knee between her legs and the opposite forearm near her head, and continued to kiss her soundly, their lips only parting now and again to meet at a different angle. His free hand ran lightly over her ribs and down to her waist as he felt her work at the already loosened knot of his tie, then move to his waistband to free his braces before focusing her attack on the buttons of his shirt.

Her name left his lips on a groan as her mouth moved to his neck, and she tugged his shirt free of his trousers to undo the last buttons.  His abdomen contracted reflexively when he felt her small hands on the thin fabric of his vest, and he moved the arm by her head marginally to tangle his hand in her hair, tugging gently to align them for another kiss.  Her hands continued wandering, one finding his wrist by her waist and popping the button of his cuff while the other traveled over his back between his shirt and vest.  His own hand made it’s way down to her hip, fingers digging into her, when he felt her knee run over his thigh.

“Anna,” he breathed, breaking the kiss and panting a little.  “This isn’t what I brought you up here for.”

“I know,” she said, and he kissed the inside of her wrist as she brought a hand up to his cheek.  “If I thought you had, I wouldn’t have come.”

Her other hand reached up to his wrist and tugged, popping the button off his cuff completely.  He blinked, then looked down at her.  “You tore my shirt.”

“Don’t worry,” she practically purred.  “I’m very good with a needle.”

His hand moved to cup the back of her head automatically when she leaned up to kiss his neck again, and he let out a groan as his pelvis moved of it’s own accord, seeking out a very dangerous sort of friction.

“Anna,” he moaned, letting his head fall to her shoulder.  “What are you trying to do to me?”

“Quite a lot of things,” she informed him.  “But for the moment, I’d just like to get rid of this _shirt_.”

Edwin took a deep breath, which was probably a mistake as he still had his head against her skin, and breathed in only her.  He still managed to lift himself up and away from her, albeit regretfully.

“Anna...sweetheart, I can’t,” he said quietly, hating himself as he saw the sting of rejection pass over her face.  “I’m sorry.”

Anna nodded, sitting up when he moved off the bed and straightening her clothes.  “It’s fine.”

“Anna--”

“Really,” she assured him with a shaky smile, but he still looked at her doubtfully.  “It’s not as if this is something I normally do.  I just...you know, people have told me for a long time that I’m pretty.  But when you say it, it’s different.  When you say it, it’s like you’re talking about all of me, inside and out, not just my face.”

“I am,” he said quietly.

“But now everyone looks at me like I’m something ugly, something they’re ashamed to even see, but not you.”  Edwin’s eyes slid closed as some of the anger started to simmer again, just beneath the surface.  “When I’m with you, even if everything else goes mad, even if the whole world burns down, even the Empire State Building, I wouldn’t care.  Because with you, I feel so safe and...and loved.  And I never thought...I never expected to love you so much, or to miss you so much when you’re gone, or--”

Whatever other “or” there might have been, Edwin didn’t bother to find out.  He cut her off by covering her mouth with his once more, and shrugged out of his shirt before pressing her down into the mattress again.  He could taste the saltiness of the few tears that had tracked down her face as she spoke, and it only served to spur him on more as he reached for her leg and hiked it over his hip as he ground against her.

“I love you, Anna,” he whispered as his lips left hers to trail over her jaw and neck, his fingers already undoing the buttons of her blouse with far more precision than he would have thought himself capable of at the moment.  He was, however, _highly_ motivated, something that became even more apparent when she rolled her hips against his.  “I love you more than words could possibly say, for more reasons than I could conceivably list.”

He pushed her blouse open, and felt her fingers in his hair as he lowered his mouth over one of her breasts, sucking lightly through the thin material of her chemise.  She let out a soft whimper, arching against him, and he quickly decided that if he died right now with that sound as the last thing he heard, he’d go happy into the afterlife.  Then she moaned his name when his hand made its way to her other breast, and he realized that every delicious sound she made would only leave him craving more, quite possibly for the rest of eternity.

He dragged himself away after a moment, reaching for her hands and pulling her to her feet with him.  She looked up at him uncertainly, and he kissed her again as his hands moved to her shoulders to push her blouse off.  He dipped his head lower to her neck, then, as his hands skimmed over her back to the clasp of her skirt, and pulled her tight against him again when it pooled at her feet.

Her body was trembling as his name left her lips again, and he reached over his head to tug off his vest when her tiny hands pulled it from his trousers.  He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers, as her hands explored his chest.

“Shoes,” he muttered, and her hands abruptly stopped.  He opened his eyes again to find her staring at him in confusion.  “This...undressing bit...will be quite a lot simpler without shoes.”

“Oh!”  She dissolved into giggles, resting her head on his shoulder, and he couldn’t help chuckling a little himself as he kissed her head.  She pulled away after a few seconds, sitting down on the bed again to work at the buckle of one shoe, and he backed away to the chair by the desk to untie his own shoes.  He became more than a little distracted, however, when, on his second shoe, she reached for her garter clips and unrolled one stocking carefully.  He swallowed hard, his eyes tracking her hands moving over her thigh, her knee, her calf--his gaze shot to hers when her hands froze to find her eyes wide under his heated look.  He tugged off his second shoe, then his socks, tucking them neatly into his shoes, never taking his eyes off hers.  She swallowed as he stood, walking slowly toward her before dropping to one knee before her.  She gasped as his lips fell to her already naked thigh, and he smiled a little against her skin while he pulled her stocking off her foot.  He turned his attention to her other leg, glancing up at her briefly before working on the clips and releasing her second stocking.

She muttered something in Hungarian, panting, when he kissed a trail over her skin as he slowly rolled her stocking off.  She let out a squeak when he nipped at the inside of her ankle, and he flashed a grin at her as he tugged the stocking off her foot.

“Come here,” he urged softly, reaching for her again as he stood, his voice husky and lower than usual.  She didn’t seem to mind; she looped her arms loosely around his neck as he bent to kiss her, his tongue sliding over hers as his hands pulled up her chemise inch by inch to bunch at her hips.  Only when he’d found the lacy bottom did he lift his head again to pull it up and over her head.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, eyes travelling over the pale vision bared to him but for a pair of high waisted knickers.

She reached for him, her fingers burying themselves in his hair, and she pulled him down for a kiss as he eased her down onto the bed once more.  The feel of her chest against his, the skin on skin sensation, made him groan and grind his hips into hers.  She threw her head back and moaned as he connected, even with the remaining layers, and Edwin latched onto her neck again as he snaked a hand between them, touching her through her knickers and relishing in the moisture seeping through.  She gasped, her hips jumping, when his fingers found the particularly sensitive bundle of nerves he’d been looking for.

“Edwin, please,” she groaned, and as much as he already knew there was very little he could deny her, her voice now shot straight to his core and had him fumbling with his trousers before he’d managed a conscious thought about it.  He pushed off his pants and trousers as soon as his shaking hands worked his fly, then hooked his fingers into her waistband and dragged her knickers down her thighs.

He swallowed hard, pressing a kiss to the ridge of her hipbone before looking up at her.  “Anna...are...are you certain?”

“I’ve never been more certain of anything than I am of you, Edwin,” she said, and his eyes slid closed under the weight of faith and trust this girl had in him, far more than he’d earned, but every ounce of which he’d happily spend the rest of his life striving to deserve.

He opened his eyes when he felt her hand on his cheek, then crawled up body to settle between her thighs.

“I love you, darling,” he whispered as he took himself in hand to align himself and press into her slowly.  He paused, shooting her a worried look, when she shuddered beneath him.

“It’s fine,” she told him, smiling a little and shaking her head.  “I just...I’ve never felt...keep going, please.”

His hand moved to her hip, and he kissed her gently as pushed his pelvis forward again until he was fully seated within her.  He stopped, resting his forehead on hers and breathing heavily as his head swam.  Her legs slid over his thighs to wrap around his waist, and he groaned as he suddenly sank impossibly further.

When the spots finally receded from his vision, he started to move, pulling almost completely out before driving into her again.  He tried to be slow, to keep from hurting her, but every groan and gasp and muttered Hungarian phrase made it increasingly difficult to keep the controlled tempo.  When he felt her nails scratch over his back he gave up, thrusting into her in earnest.

One hand worked behind her back to cup her neck as she leaned up to whisper in his ear, some incoherent but intoxicating mixture of English and Hungarian.  That gave way to moans and pants as he rotated his hips against her with every thrust, and she started trembling around him.

“Edwin...oh--oh _Edwin_.”  Her lips and teeth latched onto his neck as she clenched around him, and the brief sensation of pain amidst the pleasure tore a guttural sound from him.  He clenched his teeth, grinding against her and trying to ride out her pleasure as long as possible before he pulled out abruptly.  His hand flew down to clench himself tightly as his seed spurted between them, shudders wracking his body.

He rested his head on her shoulder, gaining his breath back slowly, before lifting his head to kiss her gently.  He stood with difficulty, his legs shaky, and fished his handkerchief out of his jacket.  He wiped himself off, then did the same for her.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, not quite able to meet her eyes.  “I just...if anything happened...and I left you alone, especially right now...I’d never forgive myself.”

“It’s alright,” she murmured, her hand brushing over his, and he finally met her gaze.  He was stunned to find that nothing had changed; the was no disgust or disdain in her eyes, only the same love and adoration that had been there for...so long.  “Come here.”

She pulled him toward the head of bed, pulling back the bedclothes and burrowing into them before lifting them in invitation.  He glanced to the side, tossing his handkerchief in the rubbish bin--that was _not_ a stain he’d care to explain to any cleaners--before crawling in beside her.  She nestled into his side as he put an arm around her, and he pressed a long kiss to her hair, breathing her in.

"That was...unexpected," he said finally.

"Do you regret it?" she asked, and he tipped her head up gently with two fingers under her chin.

"Never," he assured her, leaning down to kiss her. He gazed at her a long moment when he broke away, then sighed. "It will, I fear, be decidedly more difficult to leave now, however."

"So don't," she said, snuggling down and wrapping an arm around his waist. "Leave the army, stay with me."

Edwin chuckled, combing a hand through her hair.  "Would that I could. But there's a war on; I don't think anything short of treason will relieve me from his Majesty's service."

Anna made a thoughtful hum. "Perhaps we'll leave that as plan b."

"Probably best," he agreed. He hesitated, wondering for a moment if what he wanted to say was asking too much with everything else happening, but then dismissed the idea. If anything, it could provide them both with some badly needed hope for the future. "When this is all over, when I can leave the army, will you--"

"I'll be here," she told him, eyes wide and sincere. "I know it's not practical right now, but one day... I want a life with you, Edwin. So I'll be here."

Edwin found himself once again stunned by the girl in his arms, the same way he had been when he first met her, when she asked him to dinner, when she kissed him on the train platform the first time he left, when he'd gotten her first letters. The fact that he was often a very different person when he wasn't with her didn't matter, because who he was around her was someone he liked far more on the whole. The idea of spending the rest of his life with her, one day, was enough to take his breath away. He bent his head to kiss her again, shifting until he was once again hovering over her. His hand wandered over her ribs, reveling in the satin feel of her skin against his.

"Until then, darling," he said in a rough voice as he broke away, trailing his lips over her throat and down to her chest. "I've still got at least another week and a half, possibly a fortnight, until I have to leave. More to the point, several hours until you're expected home."

"Why Captain Jarvis," she purred, running her hands through his hair. "Did you have something in mind to keep us occupied?"

"I'm fairly certain something will come to me," he murmured against her skin as his hand moved to the inside of her thigh and crept upwards.


End file.
